The Johnny Chan TCI Invitational Poker Tournament 2006

One of Johnny Chan’s business ventures was the Johnny Chan TCI Invitational Tournament. This tournament was a featured event that took place from September 9 - 16, 2006, and was played in the beautiful setting of Providenciales in The Palms Resort, Turks and Caisos Island in the British West Indies.

The Johnny Chan TCI Invitational Tournament was an eight day poker event, with a $5,500 buy in. It was hosted by The Game International TCI Limited, which organizes and promotes professional poker throughout the world. The Game hosts the professional poker games and tournaments in areas of the world, like the Turks and Caicos Islands, that have limited exposure to the world sport of poker. This also plays an important part in contributing to the local economies of the areas.

The island setting of The Johnny Chan TCI Invitational gave the players a chance to combine tournament playing with a vacation type atmosphere. In addition to the tournament play, there were sit and go tables, cash games, VIP outings, and a huge concert on the final night. The idea was to give the poker players a one of a kind experience.

Johnny Chan certainly chose a beautiful location for The TCI Invitational. The Turks and Caicos Islands are a chain of 40 islands about one hour away by plane from Miami, Florida. The islands are in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of the Bahama Islands.

Seats for the tournament included those that were purchased in the limited packages that were offered, those that were won by playing in the TCI tournaments which were played twice a month, and those that were won by playing in online tournaments. The tournament attracted 163 players which included professional poker players, as well as skilled amateurs.

The Johnny Chan TCI Invitational Tournament attracted some of the top professional poker players amongst its 163 entrants. Along with Johnny Chan was Jamie Gold, David Williams, Ian Frazier, David “Devil Fish” Ulliot, Amir Vahedi, Carlos “The Matador” Mortenson, Jeff Madsen and Bob “The Butcher” Clark. Three pros also flew in from the United Kingdom, Ashley Hayes, Jac Arama, and Micheal Greco. Amongst the Professional poker players were three World Series of Poker Main Event Champions, Johnny Chan, Jamie Gold and Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen.

Jamie Gold was ahead at the end of the first day, but a local player, Sammy Been, knocked him out on the second day. The local players did very well amongst the poker pros. Four of the local islanders, Sammy Been, Terry Selver, Robbie Been, and Rhynie Campbell, went on to play at the final table and shared in the winnings. The final hand saw Carlos “The Matador” Mortenson as the tournament winner, with a cash prize of $139,195.

The tournament wound up with a spectacular fireworks display and a memorable concert that featured Machel Montano and Shaggy. Local performers also took to the stage.

The Game International, which was the tournament host had Rhynie Campbell, their representative, give a check for the amount of $25,000 to the Turks and Caicos National Cancer Society.